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Speaker 1: Hello, I'm welcomed stories all the time. Glad you are here.

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Let's get into it. My uncle Ben ran this old

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self storage place out near Kessler, New Jersey, just past

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the band on one hundred forty seven. His facility was

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touched behind a line of overgrown pined and a rusted

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chinneling fence with the gate that janned if he closed

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it too fast. Then had been running that place for years.

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I used to help him once in a while when

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I was younger, changing locks, cleaving out abandoned units, spraying

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for spiders when the exterminated into so when he called

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me one evening and asked if I could cover the

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night shifts for a couple weeks while he recovered from

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shoulder surgery, I said sure. He said he'd pay me

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in cash. He'd be easy to stay awake, log anyone

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who came in after hours and make sure the place

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didn't catch fire. I was between jobs at the time,

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trying to figure out what the hell I wanted to

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do next, so the timing worked out. Plus I figured

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it might be nice to have some quiet time to myself.

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I brought books, my laptop, snacks, thought it'd be kind

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of peaceful. The office itself looked like it hadn't changed

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since nineteen ninety six. Beige everything, dust to fake plant

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in the corner, a filing cabinet that stuck when you

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opened it. The heater was ancient and I swear a

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cough when it turned on. But there was a desk,

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an old coffee pot, and a little monitor set up

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that show each row of units. The lot had above

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fifty units total, spread across two long rows, with a

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single motion light above each door. Most of them were

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vacant or hadn't been opened in years. The first two

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nights were uneventful. I stayed in the office, streamed some

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old episodes of Mythbustows, and drank way too much coffee

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from my thermos. The air at there was dry and

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sharp at night, and the silence hit different. Not peaceful exactly,

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just empty, the kind of quiet that makes you notice

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how loud your own breathing is. Then came the third night.

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It was around two point thirty in the morning. I'd

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just finished a lukewarm cup of gas station chili and

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was debating if I could take a nap without technically

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breaking the rules. That's when I noticed the light on

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the monitor. It wasn't just flickering, it was fully on

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Unit forty two. That one always stood out to me

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because it had its own interior light. None of the

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others did not like that, just a long fluorescent strip

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bolted to the ceiling. I checked the gatelocks, no entries,

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no one had come in. Still. I threw on my jacket,

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grabbed the flask light, and headed out. The air was freezing.

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Each step crunched hard against the gravel, like walking on

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broken glass. My flashlight beam jumped across the rows of units,

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catching rustum peeling paint whenever. Each forty two the door

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was cracked open, just enough to see lights pulling out

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from inside. Polissy said that if a door was open,

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I had to investigate and document it. So I called

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up twice and waited nothing. I pulled the door open

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the rest of the way. The fluorescent light buzz above

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me like it was struggling to stay alive. The unit

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was full of the usual junk boxes with torn labels,

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a treadmill with one handle missing, a cracked rub maybin.

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But there was something else in the back lean carefully

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against the wall was a huge mirror seven feet at

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least with this thick carved frame that looked like something

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from an old state sail. The wood had these culling

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vine like patterns, and it looked weirdly pristine. No dust,

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no nicks, not even any finger prints. The glass was

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even stranger, perfectly clean. It didn't match the rest of

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the unit at all, which looked like it hadn't been

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touched in a decade. I stepped closer, mostly just curious,

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I guess I expected to see myself looking tired and cold.

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But the second I got up closed, something felt long.

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It was my reflection. Yeah, same close, same stance, but

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my chest was moving. My reflection was breathing rapidly, like

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it had just sprinted across the lot. I wasn't moving.

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I froze and just watched it for a few seconds,

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my hand slowly dropping away from the flashlight. Then it stopped,

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just stilled back to normal. I backed out of the

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unit without another word, pulled the door shut hard, and

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locked it back in the office. I cold Ben. It

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was almost three in the morning, and he answered sounding

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half asleep. When I told him what I saw. He

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didn't even pretend to be surprised, just said, don't go

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back in there. That unit's been strange for years. I

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should have warned you that was it. No explanation, No,

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you're seeing things, or maybe it was a trick of

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a light, just a warning, like he'd been waiting for

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this call. The next night, I tried to ignore it.

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I even flipped the monitor off and kept the blinds closed.

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I figured if I didn't see anything, I wouldn't have

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to deal with it. But around one point forty five,

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the monitor flickered on by itself, just static for a

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few seconds, then a clear image. The door to uniforty

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two rolled open again. I stared at it for way

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too long before grabbing the flashlight. I don't know what

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I thought I was going to do, show weigh a

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ghost reason with the mirror. The unit was empty, no light,

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no boxes, no mirror, just cold concrete in the soft

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echo of my own footsteps. I turned to head back in.

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That's when I saw something move in the reflection of

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another unit's door, just a blow, like someone ducking behind me.

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But when I spun around, nothing was there. I run

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back to the office and slammed the door shut behind me.

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My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I kept telling myself it

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was distress, just imagination. Then around four in the morning

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came the knocking maw on the door. On the back window.

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There's an arrow window behind the desk that faces the

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gravel lot. I hadn't looked at it all night. I

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moved toward it slow hart pounding so loud it drowned

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out the heater. When I peeked through the blinds, my

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legs almost gave out. The mirror was back popped up

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against the outside of the glass, facing in the reflection,

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staring at me. Wasn't moving, wasn't blinking. The eyes were wide,

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just a little too wide, like someone trying to fake

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what normal looks like. I didn't move, I couldn't. Eventually

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the sun started to rise, and just like that, the

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mirror was gone. I left the keys in the counter

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that morning, didn't even leave a note. I just got

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in my car and drove home. Two weeks later, Ben's

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wife called. He died in his sleep, stroke, they said,

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but she mentioned something odd. When they found him, he

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was upright in bed, eyes opened, looking like heap in

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frozen midfall. There was a shoud of glass in his hand,

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blood dried around his fingers. Nothing came out after investigation,

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they said it was a natural death. Back then, I

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was working nights at the Bellman Theater Downtown. The front

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looked nice, marble floors, shiny brass fixtures, all restored to

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the slightly over the top version of its nineteen forteself.

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I was the overnight supervisor for the cleaner crew ten

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p m. To six a m. One Thursday night in

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early March, two of the regular cleaners, Marcel and Jina,

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called out. I remember because they always brought coffee on

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break and I missed it. With them gone, I had

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to cover their rounds up stairs. It was one of

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those nights where everything felt slightly off kilter. The upper

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levels of the theater were always strange. The echoes up

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there did something word like you'd hear footztet the second

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after Dy moved of Voices would bounce in ways that

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made you pause and listen, but I'd gotten used to it.

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Around midnight, I was in one of the supply rooms

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off the second floor, whole log and cleaning supplies. I

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had my tablet open, checking off what we had left,

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paper towels to grease her to toilet paper. That's when

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I noticed the red binder. It was just sitting there

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on top of the mop sink, plain red, slightly frayed

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at the corners. We didn't use physical binders. Everything was

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tracked online. I thought maybe someone left an old oc

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of behind, but I couldn't remember ever seeing it there

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before I opened it. The first page was labeled stage

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left storage oar cave in thick black pen, underneath the

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list of inventory boxes, props, lighting, gels, cables, all handrton.

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I frowned. That section had been sealed since long before

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I started. Management said the stairs were unsable. No one

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went down there. I closed it and figured it was

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just some wid left over from an old inventory, marked

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it as found, tucked it under my arm and brought

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it back to the front office. I locked it inside

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the cabinet under the desk, double lock actually, and wrote

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the time down in my shift notes. About an hour

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or later, I was doing another sweep, and when I

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passed the same supply room, I saw it again, sitting

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on the exact same shelf, exact same angle. The office

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was still locked. I didn't even try to come up

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with an explanation that made sense. I just stared at

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it for a bit, then picked it up again. And

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walked straight back. This time I placed it under the

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front deskamera, right in the middle of the frame, so

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I could catch anything that happened to me. Fifteen minutes

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later I checked the footage. It was there. I don't

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mean someone moved it. I mean it just wasn't visible

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in the footage. One frame it was sitting there, the

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next on like it skipped over the part where it

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should have existed. I went back up to the supply room.

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There it was again. I didn't touch it this time,

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just stood there for a few minutes, then left. I

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didn't even write it down in the log. What would

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I write? Later that night, I walked the upper hallway

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to lock up the restrooms. I passed the usual row

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of dressing rooms in service closets, and just as I

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reached the bainn neard the back staircase, I saw one

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door slightly open. It had a small plaque before a lounge.

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That area wasn't restored yet. The walls back there were

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still water stained. As far as I knew, no one

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had been in there in years. Only one key existed

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for me. I pushed it open. The air was colder

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than the rest of the floor. I remember the way

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it hit me. Not like a sea cold, but still sharp,

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like the kind of cold you feel on your gums

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when you bite into eyes. The room was mostly empty.

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A row of vanity mirrors lined one wall. Most of

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the bold's cracked are missing, thus clung to everything. A

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few steels sat scattered across the space, one knocked over.

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There was a folding dressing screen in the corner with

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a long tew in the fabric, and in the middle

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of the room the binder. It was lying open, this

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time a different page. The handwriting looked the same, but

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the heading had changed. This one said entries beneath it

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five names first and last, no dates, no job titles.

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I only recognize one of them. Mine next to it,

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written in small capital letters, filed. I closed the door

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and left the building without saying a word to any one.

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The next night I called and sick send a half

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heart attackt about a migraine, and stared at my phone

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in the rest of the night, waiting for some response. Nothing.

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Sleep well, kept thinking I was hearing the soft kind

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of pipes and movement upstairs. By the following evening, I

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felt ridiculous, told myself I was being dramatic, probably a

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prank or some way left of her from a past employee.

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I decided to finish the week and quick properly. Everything

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seemed normal at first, until I went back to that

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mop room. The binder was in the sync, this time closed.

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It wasn't just sitting there casually to either. It looked

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like it had been dropped hard, one edge hanging into

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the drain, like it wanted to slip away. I opened it.

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The names were gone. There was just one short paragraph

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in the center of the page, under the heading returned Directive.

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The handwriting was different, now, shaky and small, like someone

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was writing in a hurry. The ink was darker, too,

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blared into the paper. It we rehearsal and complete proceed

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a green room. We didn't have a green room. I

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pulled up the floor plan on my tablet. No such

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label anywhere. But even as I told myself that, I

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started walking down the hallway behind the stage pass the

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orchestra pit entrance. Everything felt tight, like the walls had

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shifted slightly closer. Then I saw a door I'd never

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paid much attention to, unlabeled, set into the wall like

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a fire exito storage. I sooned it led to electrical systems.

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I tried the knob. It opened stairs, led downward. The

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air was stale and warmer than upstairs, but there was

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light at the bottom, one single bolb swinging slightly, making

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this soft almost imperceptible. Hum. I heard a piano, not

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a recording, a real piano, just a few notes, played slowly,

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like someone rehearsing scales, without much enthusiasm. I stood there,

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not breathing, for maybe thirty seconds. Then I shut the

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door and locked it in the hallway. I pulled out

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my phone and tied her resignation email right then and

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there no notice. I didn't even read it over, just

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hits and I turned around ready to get out, and

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the binder was on the floor behind me. I didn't

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even hesitate, picked it up, walked at the main doors,

238
00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,360
crossed the street, and left it on a bench outside

239
00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:00,759
the little Sound which shop across from the lot. I

240
00:12:00,879 --> 00:12:04,919
drove home, didn't turn on the radio, didn't stop for gas,

241
00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,360
just white knuckled the wheel all the way. At the time,

242
00:12:08,519 --> 00:12:11,480
I worked for a property services company based in southern Indiana.

243
00:12:12,039 --> 00:12:14,960
Our job was simple, haul out whatever was left, document

244
00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,240
the condition, take photos, and pret the place for a

245
00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:20,159
locksmith own spector. That Thursday I got sent to a

246
00:12:20,159 --> 00:12:22,960
single story brick house outside a small town called Ashield.

247
00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:25,279
It sat at the end of a long wooded road

248
00:12:25,279 --> 00:12:28,480
with no sidewalk and barely any cell service. I'd never

249
00:12:28,519 --> 00:12:31,519
been down that stretch before. The property had apparently been

250
00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:35,240
untouched for over half a year. No electricity, no running water,

251
00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,000
just a houseful of whatever the previous ownerkunt or wouldn't

252
00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,480
take with them. When I pulled up, the driveway was

253
00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:42,440
cracked a mossy and the mail box was hanging by

254
00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,360
one screw. The grass had grown into stiff yellow stalks

255
00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,120
that crunched underfoot. Nothing felt particularly spooky or out of place.

256
00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,720
Just another dead house on another forgotten road. I growled

257
00:12:52,759 --> 00:12:55,519
my gloves, flask, light, crowbar and clipboard from the track,

258
00:12:55,759 --> 00:12:57,720
ran through the checklist in my head, and hurried up

259
00:12:57,759 --> 00:13:00,399
to the porch. The front door was already on un locked,

260
00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,399
which wasn't that where sometimes the bank sent out a

261
00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,639
locksmouth ahead of time. Still something about it bugged me.

262
00:13:07,279 --> 00:13:09,480
The door frame looked slightly warped like the wood and

263
00:13:09,519 --> 00:13:12,519
shifted sideways a bit. Even though there wasn't any visible damage.

264
00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:14,919
It was like the house itself that leaned away from

265
00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:17,200
the door at some point and never quite settled back.

266
00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,240
I made a mental note and pushed it open. The

267
00:13:20,279 --> 00:13:24,240
air inside was danse, not stinky, just still dry in

268
00:13:24,279 --> 00:13:27,000
a moving like a cross base of seal basement. You

269
00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,440
know that muffled silence he get when nothing's being disturbed

270
00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:31,879
for a while. That was the first thing I noticed.

271
00:13:32,519 --> 00:13:35,639
Even my footsteps felt quieter than usual. The furniture was

272
00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:38,840
all gone, except for some thick bundles of newspapers stacked

273
00:13:38,879 --> 00:13:41,840
neatly in the living room, tied with twine. I checked

274
00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:44,200
the top copy out of Habit The date was over

275
00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,519
five years old. That felt strange, even for a foreclosure.

276
00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,240
I started in the usual way, checked the front rooms,

277
00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,799
photographed the walls, looked for a water damage. One bedroom

278
00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,600
was empty, Another had a few broken hangers on the

279
00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,519
floor in some mald spots near the window. Nothing stood

280
00:13:59,519 --> 00:14:01,200
out until I got to the third room, which had

281
00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,279
clearly been used to some kind of home office. That's

282
00:14:04,279 --> 00:14:06,879
where it got weird. The walls were lined with shelves,

283
00:14:06,879 --> 00:14:09,000
and the shelves were filled wall to wall with food cans.

284
00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,440
Every single one had the label removed, just plain silver cans,

285
00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:16,279
most of them lightly rusted around the rooms. They were

286
00:14:16,399 --> 00:14:19,919
organized carefully by size, tall ones in the left, smaller

287
00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:23,200
ones stacked in pyramids. There had to be hundreds of them.

288
00:14:23,559 --> 00:14:26,399
Not a single label left behind. On the desks had

289
00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:28,799
a rotary phone, one of the old Base models from

290
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,279
the seventies, completely unplugged. There wasn't even a phone jack

291
00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:34,480
on that side of the room. Next to it was

292
00:14:34,519 --> 00:14:37,200
a thick closed ledger book with a cloth cover written

293
00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,480
across the top and black ink was a single word hail,

294
00:14:39,639 --> 00:14:43,440
no title, no dress, just that name. I left it alone.

295
00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,679
At first. I went through the closet, moved some dusty

296
00:14:46,679 --> 00:14:49,879
file boxes, checked behind a door for any outlets. Nothing unusual.

297
00:14:50,399 --> 00:14:52,600
But when I turned back to the desk, the phone

298
00:14:52,679 --> 00:14:55,039
was off the hook, just lying there on the wood,

299
00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,399
with the cold cord stretched out, like someone had picked

300
00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,799
it up and set it down gently. I stood still

301
00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:03,240
for moment. Then I said out loud, okay, not funny.

302
00:15:03,799 --> 00:15:06,919
Sometimes I talked to myself on jobs, not like full

303
00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:10,519
on conversations, just quick things to stay grounded. It's easier

304
00:15:10,559 --> 00:15:12,360
to feel like the one in control when your voice

305
00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:14,759
is there only one you hear. I picked up the receiver,

306
00:15:14,879 --> 00:15:17,240
half expecting it to be dead. But there was this

307
00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:22,320
slow hum, faint but steady. Not static, No static, more

308
00:15:22,399 --> 00:15:24,279
like the vibration you get near an old power line

309
00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,679
or a giant transformer. There was no electricity in the house.

310
00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:30,879
I confirmed it before I walked in. I set the

311
00:15:30,879 --> 00:15:32,840
phone back in the cradle a little harder than I

312
00:15:32,879 --> 00:15:36,000
meant to. I stepped back out into the hallway. Half

313
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,080
Way down was a caloset door I had passed earlier.

314
00:15:38,639 --> 00:15:41,120
It had been shut. Now it was cracked open about

315
00:15:41,159 --> 00:15:43,720
foot and light was spilling out from its side. I

316
00:15:43,759 --> 00:15:47,320
stopped walking. There was no power, no light should be on,

317
00:15:48,039 --> 00:15:50,519
but through the crack I could see the unmistakable yellow

318
00:15:50,519 --> 00:15:53,080
glow of a single bulb. I pushed the door open

319
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:57,000
all the way. Inside was a small utility closet, empty

320
00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,080
except for a folded lawn chair in the center of

321
00:15:59,159 --> 00:16:01,720
the floor. It was positioned to face the back wall.

322
00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,639
Directly on that wall ride an in thick pencil. In

323
00:16:04,759 --> 00:16:08,200
uneven lines were the words I remember who left. I

324
00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,759
didn't go inside, I didn't touch anything. I just closed

325
00:16:11,759 --> 00:16:14,440
the door slowly and walked away. Back in the office,

326
00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,600
I finally opened the ledger to first dozen pages were

327
00:16:17,639 --> 00:16:20,440
lists of initials and dates. Every name was much for

328
00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,519
the single diagonal slashed through it like a running tally.

329
00:16:24,159 --> 00:16:26,279
But about half way through the book the pattern changed.

330
00:16:26,879 --> 00:16:33,279
The entries turned into frazes. Front door, twise, cabinet, twelve, bedroom, blanket, off,

331
00:16:33,919 --> 00:16:36,759
and then the last one. See if they notice. I

332
00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:38,879
closed the book, carried it out to the living room,

333
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:40,440
and placed it on top of the box I was

334
00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:44,200
collecting with other removables. That's when I noticed the newspapers.

335
00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,799
They weren't in stacks any more. They'd been rearranged, laid

336
00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:49,960
out in a circle on the floor evenly space, each

337
00:16:50,039 --> 00:16:52,559
bundle pointing toward the center like spokes on a wheel.

338
00:16:53,159 --> 00:16:56,000
I hadn't heard anything, nothing had moved. Well, I was

339
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,200
in the other room, but I swear to you they

340
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,960
went't like that ten minutes earlier. That was it for me.

341
00:17:01,039 --> 00:17:02,840
I loaded what I had into the truck, left the

342
00:17:02,879 --> 00:17:05,240
checklist half filled in the passenger's seat, and got ready

343
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,680
to leave. But as I reached for the keys, I

344
00:17:07,759 --> 00:17:10,640
realized I had left my flat light inside. I saw it,

345
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,279
cursed under my breath, then walked back up to the porch.

346
00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,720
The front door was wide open. I know I shut it.

347
00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:20,720
I always shut it. It's part of the routine muscle memory,

348
00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:23,240
one of the small habits you don't even think about

349
00:17:23,279 --> 00:17:26,359
until it gets interrupted. I stepped back inside it, keeping

350
00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:28,880
my foots. That's quiet. This time. I went straight to

351
00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,720
the office. My flashlight was sitting on the desk, but

352
00:17:31,759 --> 00:17:34,960
the phone was gone. Then I heard it. That's soft,

353
00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,640
deliberate cooking sound, A rotary dial being turned one number

354
00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,920
at a time, so well mechanical, coming from the bedroom

355
00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,240
across the hall. I didn't want to go, but I

356
00:17:45,279 --> 00:17:49,440
took a step, then another, and I looked. Nothing in

357
00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,599
the room had changed, except now the rotary foham was

358
00:17:52,599 --> 00:17:54,759
sitting on the carpet right in the middle of the floor,

359
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,960
still and plugged. The receiver was resting in a cradle.

360
00:17:58,559 --> 00:18:01,279
The sound had stopped. On the window of the bed.

361
00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:04,240
Drawn backward. In the condensation were the same five words

362
00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,039
I remember. Who left? I turned round, walked straight out.

363
00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,359
No running, no panic, just a very control, very steady walk.

364
00:18:13,079 --> 00:18:15,400
I got in a truck, locked the doors and didn't

365
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,359
stop driving until I was back in town. Two days later.

366
00:18:18,559 --> 00:18:21,039
My manager called to ask why I hadn't completed the checklist.

367
00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:23,720
I told him the foundation was unstable and I had

368
00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,559
a migraine. He didn't press it, just reassigned the job.

369
00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,200
I was twenty seven when I moved into the basement

370
00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,279
unit off Harwood Street, just outside of Rochester, not far

371
00:18:32,319 --> 00:18:34,400
from an old church, in a sketchy looking tire shop

372
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:36,759
with a busted neon sign that flickered even during the day.

373
00:18:37,319 --> 00:18:39,240
I didn't love the area, but the rent was low,

374
00:18:39,319 --> 00:18:41,440
and more importantly, I didn't need to put down three

375
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:43,519
months to pass it, which felt like a miracle at

376
00:18:43,519 --> 00:18:46,039
the time. The house was a red brick split level

377
00:18:46,039 --> 00:18:47,480
with the front porch that looked like it had been

378
00:18:47,519 --> 00:18:50,759
sagging since the nineties. My place was the basement unit.

379
00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:53,680
It had its unsided entrance, which felt like a bonus

380
00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,640
at the time, more privacy. There was also a locked

381
00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,240
door that connected to the main house. It led to

382
00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,279
a narrow staircase up to Vince's place. We both had

383
00:19:02,279 --> 00:19:04,640
locks on outside, but the stairs were still there, just

384
00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,200
sitting behind a hollow corridor, like a weird little passage

385
00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,240
nobody used. I could hear Vince walking around up there.

386
00:19:10,319 --> 00:19:13,960
Sometimes he wore heavy boots, and occasionally I'd hear coughing

387
00:19:14,039 --> 00:19:16,559
late at night, the guy sounded like he'd smoked a

388
00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,519
chimneysworth in his life. The first time I noticed the

389
00:19:19,519 --> 00:19:21,559
cold patch was maybe a week after I moved in.

390
00:19:22,079 --> 00:19:24,359
I was doing laundry and stepped barefoot on to something

391
00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:27,000
that felt wrong. Not wear it, not soft, just cold,

392
00:19:27,079 --> 00:19:29,200
like freezer cold. A single dinner plate size patch of

393
00:19:29,279 --> 00:19:31,160
concrete ride in the middle of the laundry room. For

394
00:19:31,319 --> 00:19:33,200
it didn't look any different than the rest of the floor,

395
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,000
but every time I stood on it, even in socks,

396
00:19:35,079 --> 00:19:36,960
I felt this deep, metallic cho sheet up my leg.

397
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,200
I started stepping around it just out of instinct. I

398
00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,079
didn't even question it at first. You know how your

399
00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:43,920
body just sort of avoids stuff that feels off. It

400
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,799
was like that. By mid January, things got approval. Outside

401
00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,559
Rochester winters don't mess around, and this one came with

402
00:19:50,599 --> 00:19:52,960
single digits in that sharp, dry air that bites your skin.

403
00:19:53,519 --> 00:19:55,440
I kept a little space heater running in the bedroom

404
00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,319
at night, mostly to stay sane, but even then i'd

405
00:19:58,319 --> 00:20:00,359
wake up in the mornings and see my breath in

406
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,880
the air. The heater was working, it just wasn't enough.

407
00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:06,480
The place felt like it was trying to freeze me out.

408
00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:09,960
The night had happened. I'd gone to bed early, I remember,

409
00:20:10,039 --> 00:20:12,599
because I'd fallen asleep watching something dumb on my laptop,

410
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,200
and when I woke up, everything was off, the heater,

411
00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:20,039
the power, total silence. Now, silence doesn't usually feel like

412
00:20:20,079 --> 00:20:23,200
a thing, right, but in that beastment, with the heater

413
00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,279
always humming and the occasional thud from upstairs, it was

414
00:20:26,319 --> 00:20:30,519
the kind of silence that hits you in the chest, thick, unnatural.

415
00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:35,160
I reached over to flick on my bedside lamp. Nothing tried.

416
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:40,599
The main light switch also dead. Okay, power outage, I thought, annoying,

417
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:43,200
but not the end of the world. I got up,

418
00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,279
mostly because I wanted my inhaler cold there and no

419
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,480
ventilation wasn't a great combo for my asthma. I always

420
00:20:49,559 --> 00:20:51,720
kept the inhaler on the corner of my dresser habit,

421
00:20:51,839 --> 00:20:54,759
but when I reached for it, my hand landed on smooth, emptywood.

422
00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:58,240
An I checked the floor, looked behind the lamp, pulled

423
00:20:58,279 --> 00:20:59,720
the drawer open in case i'd knocked it in my

424
00:20:59,759 --> 00:21:04,119
misas nothing, and then I looked toward the window. That

425
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,319
tiny basement window always had just enough light from the

426
00:21:06,319 --> 00:21:09,160
porch bulb to outline the edges. It wasn't much, but

427
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,119
it let me know the outside world was still there

428
00:21:11,799 --> 00:21:15,000
that night, though the glass look completely black, not dim,

429
00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:18,240
not shadowed, just gone light. The window had disappeared or

430
00:21:18,279 --> 00:21:21,240
been painted over. I leaned a little closer, trying to

431
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:23,240
figure out if maybe the light bulb had burned out.

432
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,279
And that's when I heard it right behind me, a

433
00:21:26,319 --> 00:21:29,440
man's voice, calm and close. You're not breathing. I jumped

434
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:33,000
and spun around. My whole body went cold. There was

435
00:21:33,039 --> 00:21:35,920
no one there but my chest. God, my chest was tight.

436
00:21:36,519 --> 00:21:38,799
My foot felt like some one was sowly pressing it closed.

437
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,799
I couldn't get a full breath in. Ye know when

438
00:21:41,839 --> 00:21:43,279
you suck for a stroll with a crack in it

439
00:21:43,319 --> 00:21:45,839
and nothing comes up. It felt like that, but in

440
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,559
my lungs. I stumbled, dropped to my knees, tried to

441
00:21:48,559 --> 00:21:51,720
crawl toward my phone. It was charging across the room, screen,

442
00:21:51,759 --> 00:21:55,599
glowing faintly in the dark. My fingers barely worked. I

443
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,000
got maybe halfway there before my vision narrowed and the

444
00:21:58,039 --> 00:22:02,039
four came rushing up to meet me. And then nothing, nothing,

445
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,480
just blank. When I came to I wasn't in the

446
00:22:05,519 --> 00:22:09,039
bedroom any more. I was on the stairs, those lock

447
00:22:09,079 --> 00:22:12,000
stairs to Vince's place. My head was resting against the

448
00:22:12,039 --> 00:22:14,640
bottom step, and my phone was in my hand, unlocked,

449
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:18,640
emergency dial, screen open. I didn't remember walking there. I

450
00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:21,680
didn't remember getting up at all. I definitely didn't remember

451
00:22:21,759 --> 00:22:25,279
unlocking the door. I blinked a few times. My chest

452
00:22:25,279 --> 00:22:28,119
still felt like it was full sand. Then I looked up.

453
00:22:28,599 --> 00:22:30,480
There was some one standing on the landing above me.

454
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,920
Not Vince. This guy was younger, midman, as third as,

455
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:38,000
maybe shaggy hair, faded Bill's hoody, just standing there watching.

456
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:42,200
Except he wasn't watching. He wasn't even facing me exactly.

457
00:22:42,839 --> 00:22:44,559
His head was tilted don like he was looking at

458
00:22:44,559 --> 00:22:47,599
the stairs, but his eyes never met mine. And then,

459
00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:50,440
without turning, he stepped backward, smooth and slow, like he

460
00:22:50,559 --> 00:22:52,920
was moving on rails, and disappeared into the shadows at

461
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,160
the top of the staircase. That was it. Next thing

462
00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:58,680
I remember, I was in the hospital, tubes in my nose,

463
00:22:58,799 --> 00:23:01,839
some one adjusting monitors beside me. Vince had found me

464
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,000
passed out against the door, barely breathing, and called an ambulance.

465
00:23:05,599 --> 00:23:08,440
It was three point thirty in the morning at the hospital.

466
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,079
They told me it was a chemical reaction, severe respiratory inflammation,

467
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:15,279
like an allergic attack, but worse. They asked if I'd

468
00:23:15,279 --> 00:23:18,759
been exposed to insulation celants, rubber fumes, stuff like that.

469
00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:21,640
I told them no, but Vince filled in the blanks later.

470
00:23:22,319 --> 00:23:23,920
I was twenty eight when I took a night job

471
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,079
at a small roadside hotel just outside a town called

472
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:29,039
ry Hill Pines. A hotel wasn't part of any chain,

473
00:23:29,799 --> 00:23:32,200
just one of those squat, single story buildings with twenty

474
00:23:32,279 --> 00:23:34,359
rooms in a U shape around a gravel parking lot.

475
00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:38,000
Half the rooms had burnt out porch bulbs. The sign

476
00:23:38,039 --> 00:23:40,119
out front used to say Cumberland Lodge, but most of

477
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,519
the letters had peeled off, so it just said come low.

478
00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:45,640
The locals thought that was funny. I did two the

479
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,720
first week. I worked the overnight shift ten to six,

480
00:23:49,519 --> 00:23:52,319
no other staff. The owner lived in New Jersey and

481
00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:54,200
came up once a month to breed heavily over the

482
00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:57,079
books and change the filter in the ice machine. The

483
00:23:57,119 --> 00:23:59,240
manager lived a iro away and only showed up if

484
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,880
something broke. That Meanta had the place to myself. Most

485
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,559
nights were uneventful. I'd set at the desk in a

486
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,839
tiny front office, drinking terrible coffee and watching muded crimes

487
00:24:08,839 --> 00:24:10,960
shows on that he v bolted to the wall. The

488
00:24:11,039 --> 00:24:12,920
vending machine would hum in the background like it was

489
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,519
trying to fall asleep, and every so often a tired

490
00:24:15,559 --> 00:24:17,400
truck or guard on a business trip would roll in,

491
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:20,039
bleary eyed and grateful. I'd hand over one of those

492
00:24:20,079 --> 00:24:22,000
fat brass keys and point them down the whole way

493
00:24:22,079 --> 00:24:25,359
like a concierge in purgatory. I liked to quiet. Honestly,

494
00:24:26,079 --> 00:24:28,599
after years of bouncing between dead end retail jobs and

495
00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:31,480
tent gigs with florescent lighting and four small talk, sitting

496
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:33,680
alone in a slightly musty room didn't feel like the

497
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,000
worst thing. There was a kind of peace in knowing

498
00:24:36,079 --> 00:24:38,839
that nothing much was expected of me. That night didn't

499
00:24:38,839 --> 00:24:42,000
start off feeling different. The wind had picked up around midnight,

500
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,000
not a storm exactly, but the kind of ry gusts

501
00:24:45,039 --> 00:24:47,279
that make the leaves shuffle round like their looking for something.

502
00:24:47,839 --> 00:24:50,519
The lobby door was one of those old automatic sliding types,

503
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,039
the kind that operates like its on its last legs.

504
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:55,759
Every time the wind blew across the center, it would

505
00:24:55,799 --> 00:24:58,240
drag itself open an inch or two, make dis exhausted

506
00:24:58,319 --> 00:25:01,400
mechanical wheaz and thence snap shut like it was offended.

507
00:25:02,079 --> 00:25:05,000
It was annoying, but not unusual. I even laughed at

508
00:25:05,039 --> 00:25:07,759
it once or twice, like yeah, budeed, I feel that too.

509
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:10,720
Round two in the morning, I was wrapping up the audit,

510
00:25:10,839 --> 00:25:14,039
everything balanced. I shut the registered drawer with a satisfying

511
00:25:14,079 --> 00:25:16,359
little snap, stretched my back and was just reaching for

512
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:18,319
the light switch behind the desk when the front door

513
00:25:18,319 --> 00:25:22,720
side opened again. I looked up nothing. The parking lot

514
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:27,799
outside was still, no headlights, no sil wits, no sign

515
00:25:27,839 --> 00:25:30,799
of movement. Then the door slid shut with a soft hiss.

516
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,319
I figured it was the wind again, but I walked

517
00:25:33,319 --> 00:25:36,960
over to check anyway, habit I guess. I pressed my

518
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,519
hand against the glass and looked out empty. Just my

519
00:25:40,599 --> 00:25:43,400
beat up grolla sitting alone under the flickering security light,

520
00:25:43,559 --> 00:25:46,519
casting a nervous little shadow on the gravel. No fresh

521
00:25:46,519 --> 00:25:50,839
tire tracks, no footprints, just that uneasy stillness where everything

522
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:53,640
looks normal but feels not. And then behind me something

523
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:57,519
hit the floor, a sharp metal thunk. I turned fast.

524
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,640
One of the room keys six was like just behind

525
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:02,680
the desk, a couple inches from the peg board were

526
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,400
it usually hung. The hook was still there, not bend

527
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,160
or anything. The key had just dropped all on its own.

528
00:26:08,799 --> 00:26:11,640
They weren't light either. These were solid brass with thick

529
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,720
leather tags. They didn't just fall off for no reason. Still,

530
00:26:15,759 --> 00:26:17,920
I picked it up, maybe a little too quickly, and

531
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,480
hung it back like that made things normal again. I

532
00:26:20,519 --> 00:26:23,599
took one step back and another key fell. This time

533
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:25,920
it was eleven, and it didn't just drop straight down.

534
00:26:26,519 --> 00:26:28,720
It bounced off the hook below. It clattered in the counter,

535
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,799
then hit the floor. That one. I didn't hang back up.

536
00:26:32,319 --> 00:26:34,160
I just stared at a second and stepped away. The

537
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:36,559
lobby felt well, not cold, but thick charge charged like

538
00:26:36,599 --> 00:26:39,079
there before a thunderclap were right after someone says something

539
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,200
unforgivable and the whole room forgets how to breathe. I

540
00:26:41,279 --> 00:26:42,960
walked over to the door, flit the censer off and

541
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,279
locked it manually. Then I sat back, then behind the desk,

542
00:26:45,319 --> 00:26:47,599
every hit on my arms, standing up, telling myself I

543
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,759
was of reacting. Then the phone run eternal line Room four.

544
00:26:52,519 --> 00:26:55,240
I stared at the blinking extension for a second. No

545
00:26:55,319 --> 00:26:58,079
one was in four had been vacant for over a week.

546
00:26:58,759 --> 00:27:01,599
I'd even walked past it o that night. Door shut,

547
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:08,640
curtain pulled, same as always. I picked up slowly, front desk, nothing,

548
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:14,640
not even static, Hello, nothing, Then a click, just that.

549
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,319
I sat there for a moment, still holding the phone.

550
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:22,319
Then it rang again, Room nine. My stomach clenched. I

551
00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:25,160
picked up, tried to sound board, front desk. Pause. Then

552
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:31,279
a voice, small, high pitched, definitely a child's voice. Are

553
00:27:31,279 --> 00:27:34,720
you alone? I hung up that time. I didn't wait.

554
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:38,160
I told myself it was a glitch, that maybe the

555
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,359
phone system had crossed wires, that maybe some guest kid

556
00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:44,200
had gotten hold of the receiver. But I already knew

557
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,680
none of the occupied rooms had kids in them. I

558
00:27:46,799 --> 00:27:49,559
checked the check ins myself, two eight and twelve, all

559
00:27:49,599 --> 00:27:52,920
solo travelers, all adults. I opened the system again and

560
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,400
double checked, same result. Still. I printed out the occupancy

561
00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,400
report and stepped out from behind the desk. Good. I'd

562
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,240
warped the hale, confirmed nothing weird was going on. The

563
00:28:03,279 --> 00:28:06,839
hallway was its usual self, thin brounk carpet buzzing overhead lights,

564
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,839
that faint cyrus mell of afreshner, trying to fight mildew

565
00:28:09,839 --> 00:28:14,559
and losing. I knocked on Room four, nothin' same with nine.

566
00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,519
Then I rounded the corner and everything stopped. Room six's

567
00:28:18,599 --> 00:28:23,640
door was wide open, not half way, not cracked. White.

568
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,799
I pushed slowly, listening. The hallway was dead quiet. I

569
00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:30,480
leaned in and flicked on the room light. Everything looked

570
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:35,200
and touched it perfectly made pimote still sitting on the

571
00:28:35,279 --> 00:28:38,480
night stand. Nothing out of place, no bags, no guess,

572
00:28:38,519 --> 00:28:41,359
no movement. But the bathroom light was on. The door

573
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,200
was shut. I stood there in the doorway, staring at it.

574
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:46,920
Every part of me was yelling to leave it alone,

575
00:28:47,319 --> 00:28:51,960
but I couldn't. HULLO. I called, this is hotel staff.

576
00:28:52,559 --> 00:28:54,279
If some one's in there, it are not supposed to

577
00:28:54,279 --> 00:28:57,480
be nothing. I walked in, put my hand on the

578
00:28:57,559 --> 00:29:01,599
knob and turned it slowly envy light buzzing from the fan,

579
00:29:02,319 --> 00:29:06,839
no towels disturbed, no mirror fog, just an ordinary, very

580
00:29:06,839 --> 00:29:09,880
empty bathroom. I turned off the light, left the room,

581
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:11,920
locked the door behind me, and made my way back

582
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,799
to the desk. When I got there, my stomach dropped.

583
00:29:15,359 --> 00:29:19,759
Free keys were on the canber now four nine dix.

584
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,960
The hooks were empty. I hadn't taken them down. Then

585
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,400
the front door still locked clicked open on its own,

586
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,640
that dragging, breathy sound as it slid wide. I turned around.

587
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,960
There was a little girl standing just outside, barefoot, hair

588
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,039
matted like she'd been out in the wind for ires,

589
00:29:36,559 --> 00:29:41,000
no coat, no parents. I stepped forward, heart in my throat, hey,

590
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,440
I said gently, are you okay? Are you lost? She

591
00:29:45,519 --> 00:29:48,480
didn't answer, didn't even look at me, just stared down

592
00:29:48,519 --> 00:29:51,279
the hallway. Then she said, very softly, I need to

593
00:29:51,279 --> 00:29:54,279
go back to my room. What room is that? She

594
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:56,559
raised one arm slowly and pointed to the one where

595
00:29:56,559 --> 00:30:00,960
I'd eyed. I didn't move. I couldn't. My legs felt

596
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,640
like sandbecks. She stepped inside without another word, walked right

597
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:06,799
past me. I washed her, leave wet foot prints across

598
00:30:06,799 --> 00:30:09,599
the tiles. She headed down the hall. It hadn't rained

599
00:30:10,279 --> 00:30:13,599
that broke me. I left, didn't even grab my phone,

600
00:30:13,839 --> 00:30:15,920
just got in my car, heart hammering in my chest,

601
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:17,799
and drove until I saw lights at a gas station

602
00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:20,519
ten miles down the road. I sat in the parking

603
00:30:20,559 --> 00:30:22,880
lot for almost twenty minutes before I called the manager.

604
00:30:23,039 --> 00:30:25,480
Told him something weird had happened and I couldn't finish

605
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:30,039
the shift. Didn't explain, he didn't ask He confirmed what

606
00:30:30,079 --> 00:30:32,839
I already knew. No kids had been booked that night,

607
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:38,720
No families, just three adults. I never went back texted him.

608
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,000
Two days later in quit took a job at a

609
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,119
bookstore that only opens during the day. Months later I

610
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,839
got curious. I looked at the hotel. It had closed

611
00:30:47,839 --> 00:30:51,079
that winter. The burst pipe had flooded half the rooms

612
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,680
never reopened. I found one old article about the shutdown,

613
00:30:55,359 --> 00:30:58,039
just a short blurb, but buried near the bottom was

614
00:30:58,039 --> 00:30:59,839
a line about a woman who had filed a lawsuit

615
00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:02,480
year earlier after her daughter died during a weekend stay.

616
00:31:03,119 --> 00:31:06,880
Cobb and Mynott Side leak Room six. Back when I

617
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:08,960
was twenty one, I was working the closing shift of

618
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,160
the snow Frills twenty four iro Jyms just outside Aldridge, Virginia.

619
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:14,960
The place was Coldridge Pinfinness, though that made it sound

620
00:31:15,039 --> 00:31:19,279
fancier than it was. Most nights were uneventful. I'd vacuum

621
00:31:19,279 --> 00:31:21,759
wipe things down, checked the bathrooms to make sure no

622
00:31:21,799 --> 00:31:23,920
one fell asleep in a stall, then locked the doors

623
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,559
by midnight and head out easy enough. The jim sat

624
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:30,279
right up against this patch of woods. Everyone around town

625
00:31:30,319 --> 00:31:34,200
called Ashfield timber Locals always had some story pets disappearing,

626
00:31:34,279 --> 00:31:36,480
weird lights at night, don't go in the kind of stuff.

627
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,720
But that's just small town folklore. I'd park in the

628
00:31:39,759 --> 00:31:42,839
side lot which faced those woods directly. At the end

629
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:44,720
of my shifts, I'd just cut across the back lot

630
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,160
with my keys and flashlight and go home. I didn't

631
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:50,799
think twice about it. That night started normal. Around ten,

632
00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:54,200
there were just two people left, Rob, a regular who

633
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:58,079
did late night cardio, and this other guy I didn't recognize, young,

634
00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:00,960
maybe seventeen or EDeAN. He wasn't working out, though, just

635
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,000
sitting on the stretching mats near the wall of mirrors,

636
00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:06,400
cross legged, staring at his reflection like he was waiting

637
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,119
for it to move. I figured he was killing time,

638
00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,160
maybe waiting for someone. But after a while I walked

639
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:14,720
over and asked if he needed anything. He didn't even

640
00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:17,240
fully look at me, just said i'll leave soon, and

641
00:32:17,319 --> 00:32:19,839
something about his voice stop me. It was flat, like

642
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:23,839
someone talking in their sleep, not slurred, just distant. I paused,

643
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:25,839
kind of watching him for a second, longer than I

644
00:32:25,839 --> 00:32:28,680
probably needed to, then went back to the desk. By

645
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,960
ten point thirty, Rob had left, the kid hadn't moved.

646
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:35,160
Still sitting there facing the mirror, I cleave my throat

647
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,960
and let him know we were closing. He stood up, slowly,

648
00:32:38,079 --> 00:32:41,079
walked straight past me, and left without another word. I

649
00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:43,400
locked the door behind him, shut off the lights, did

650
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,559
my final sweep of the locker rooms. Everything looked fine.

651
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:48,599
But when I came back into the lobby, the little

652
00:32:48,599 --> 00:32:51,279
red motion sense so near the entrance blinked once. That

653
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:54,799
usually only happens if someone walks by. I double checked

654
00:32:54,799 --> 00:32:57,599
the doors, still locked, looked out onto the side what

655
00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:01,039
completely empty. Figured it was just a clip htch. They

656
00:33:01,079 --> 00:33:06,519
happened sometimes, humidity, perwasurges whatever. I shut everything down, grabbed

657
00:33:06,519 --> 00:33:09,160
my back and stepped out the back. And that's when

658
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,640
I saw it. My cow's headlights were on, not bright,

659
00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:15,880
just the dim setting, but they were definitely uncasting too long,

660
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,880
pale beams right into the trees. And here is the thing.

661
00:33:19,039 --> 00:33:22,480
I never leave them on never. I've got this little

662
00:33:22,559 --> 00:33:24,839
routine I follow every night like clockwork. Check the doors,

663
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:27,039
shut the lights, keys in my hand, then walk to

664
00:33:27,079 --> 00:33:30,559
the car. I don't even touch the headlights, which it's automatic.

665
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:33,960
I stood there for a minute, just watching. No one

666
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,559
else was in the lot, No sounds, no signs of

667
00:33:37,599 --> 00:33:40,480
anyone around. The car looked like it had just pulled in,

668
00:33:40,799 --> 00:33:44,599
lights still humming faintly. I walked up slowly. Both doors

669
00:33:44,599 --> 00:33:47,440
were shut. I glanced around, trying to convince myself this

670
00:33:47,559 --> 00:33:49,799
was just me forgetting something, but it didn't feel like that.

671
00:33:50,599 --> 00:33:54,559
I unlocked the door. The lights went off immediately, not faded,

672
00:33:54,599 --> 00:33:57,480
snapped off like a breakout which had flipped. I got

673
00:33:57,519 --> 00:34:00,000
in and started it. The engine came on, just fire.

674
00:34:00,799 --> 00:34:03,359
Nothing felt ron except the domelight didn't turn on when

675
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,319
I opened the door, just darkness overhead, like the car

676
00:34:06,319 --> 00:34:09,079
didn't want me to see inside. I backed up faster

677
00:34:09,159 --> 00:34:11,280
than usual and pulled on to the road. Glanced in

678
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,039
the rear view as I left. There was someone standing

679
00:34:14,039 --> 00:34:17,760
in the middle of the lot, same hoody, same stillness,

680
00:34:18,519 --> 00:34:20,880
just standing there, but his head was tilted all the

681
00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:23,079
way back, like he was stirring straight up into the sky,

682
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,559
not moving at all. I didn't stop, I didn't even

683
00:34:26,559 --> 00:34:29,719
slow down, just kept driving and told myself I was tired,

684
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,360
that I probably imagined it. I didn't bring it up

685
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,920
to any one. How do you explain something like that

686
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:38,000
without sounding ridiculous. I chalked it up to stress and

687
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,159
went back the next night. Everything seemed normal, but that

688
00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:43,400
mirror in the stretching area. It gave me a weird feeling.

689
00:34:44,079 --> 00:34:45,920
At one point I saw a movement in it, just

690
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,119
for a second, a quick flicker, like someone walking behind me.

691
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,280
When I turned around, there was no one there. I

692
00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:55,280
told myself it was my reflection, maybe a light catching weird.

693
00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:57,480
Tried not to make a big deal out of it.

694
00:34:57,960 --> 00:34:59,960
Then about a week later, I was in the locker

695
00:35:00,079 --> 00:35:02,639
rooms cleaning when the front door chime went off. It's

696
00:35:02,679 --> 00:35:07,239
a very distinct sound that can't miss. It only happens

697
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:10,360
when someone actually opens the front door, but it was locked,

698
00:35:11,039 --> 00:35:14,280
always is. By then, I've rushed to the front, no

699
00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:18,800
one there, pucking lot empty, the still off. I checked

700
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:22,400
the security feed and that's when I got goosebumps. The

701
00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:25,320
camera footage cut out for exactly thirteen seconds, just before

702
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:29,039
the chime. Then it came back, showing me walking into frame, confused,

703
00:35:29,679 --> 00:35:33,360
no one entering, no one leaving, just a missing chunk

704
00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:35,639
of time. I brought it up to my manager the

705
00:35:35,639 --> 00:35:39,039
next day. She brushed it off, said the cameras were

706
00:35:39,079 --> 00:35:42,639
old that they cut out sometimes, told me not to worry.

707
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,440
I tried to believe her. But then a few nights

708
00:35:45,519 --> 00:35:48,440
later I saw the kid again. He wasn't inside this time,

709
00:35:49,039 --> 00:35:51,000
he was sitting across the parking lot on the curb,

710
00:35:51,199 --> 00:35:56,000
just watching the front doors. Didn't move din Flinch, just

711
00:35:56,079 --> 00:35:59,079
sat there like he'd been waiting. I called my coworker, Tony,

712
00:35:59,119 --> 00:36:01,360
asked if he could pick me up. Left my car

713
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:04,159
behind that night. When I came back the next morning,

714
00:36:04,199 --> 00:36:06,480
there were three deep scratches across the driver's side door.

715
00:36:07,119 --> 00:36:10,960
Not like someone keyed it. These went straight. They were uneven, jagged,

716
00:36:11,039 --> 00:36:14,000
almost like law marks. I told the manager I had

717
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,320
classes starting back up and couldn't see the late shift

718
00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:19,679
any more. No one pushed back. A new guy took

719
00:36:19,679 --> 00:36:22,800
over nights. Two weeks later I heard he quit without

720
00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:25,880
giving notice. Someone said he saw a person standing in

721
00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:28,440
the back hallway who wasn't supposed to be there. When

722
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:30,800
he went to check, no one was around, but everywhere

723
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:32,679
in the locker room had fogged up, like someone had

724
00:36:32,679 --> 00:36:35,639
just breathed on them. Sometimes I dream about that mayor

725
00:36:35,639 --> 00:36:38,760
of that kid. In the dream, his reflection still moves,

726
00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:41,159
but he doesn't. The house had been empty for about

727
00:36:41,199 --> 00:36:43,599
a year before I moved in, it was this old

728
00:36:43,599 --> 00:36:46,440
two story farm house outside a little town in southern Indiana,

729
00:36:46,519 --> 00:36:49,599
Cold Rinsey. I'd never lived anywhere that, but after the

730
00:36:49,599 --> 00:36:51,920
break up, I'd just gone through. It sounded like a dream.

731
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,360
The rent was low, the landlord didn't ask many questions,

732
00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:58,840
and I needed a rosset, some space to breathe. The

733
00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:02,039
first two weeks were honestly. I got into routine, up

734
00:37:02,079 --> 00:37:04,400
around eight, work through the morning, then walk the perimeter

735
00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:07,239
of the fields in the afternoon. Sometimes I go down

736
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:08,880
to the crete that ran along the back of the

737
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,239
property and just sit with my coffee. I left the

738
00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:14,679
windows open at night. The air was perfect, just that

739
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:17,079
early autumn coll crisp enough to feel fresh, but still

740
00:37:17,119 --> 00:37:19,760
warm enough to sleep until a light blanket. I actually

741
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:23,000
started feeling okay again, like maybe this weird old house

742
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:24,960
in quiet town were exactly what I needed to get

743
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:28,559
back to myself. Then came the alarm clock. I kept

744
00:37:28,559 --> 00:37:31,199
it on the floor next to the mattress, no nights,

745
00:37:31,239 --> 00:37:33,960
and yet one morning I rolled over and saw it

746
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:37,599
blinking three point thirty three, not making noise, just blinking

747
00:37:37,719 --> 00:37:40,719
like the power had cut for a second, except nothing

748
00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:43,880
else had reset. A kitchen stove still showed the correct time,

749
00:37:44,559 --> 00:37:48,599
so did my phone. No storms the night before, no wind,

750
00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:53,239
no flickering lights. Weird but not worth spiraling over until

751
00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:56,800
it happened again, and then again. Three nights in a row.

752
00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:58,880
I woke up and the alarm was blinking three point

753
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:04,079
thirty three exactly, no more, no less. The fourth night

754
00:38:04,639 --> 00:38:07,079
I got curious enough to do something about it. I

755
00:38:07,119 --> 00:38:08,679
set up my phone to do a time lats and

756
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,239
left it pointed at the clock. When I checked it

757
00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:13,360
in the morning, the video ran fine until three point

758
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:16,760
thirty two, then it just stopped. The last frame was

759
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,920
a mess, just grayves like the old static on a

760
00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:23,719
broken BHS tape, and then nothing, no explanation. The file

761
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:27,800
wast even labeled as corrupted, just frozen. I washed it

762
00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,559
three times like that was going to change something. Then

763
00:38:30,599 --> 00:38:32,599
I deleted it and told myself I must have set

764
00:38:32,639 --> 00:38:35,239
something up wrong. But then other things started to shift.

765
00:38:36,039 --> 00:38:38,760
Just small stuff at first, like my keys. I always

766
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:40,320
put them on the little hook by the front door,

767
00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:43,440
same place every day, but one morning they were laid

768
00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:45,599
out on the kitchen counter, lined up in a straight row,

769
00:38:45,679 --> 00:38:48,760
evenly spaced, like some one had measured it. Another time,

770
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,960
my shoes turned up on the back porch, dry clean,

771
00:38:52,159 --> 00:38:54,400
perfectly play aside by side, like I just stepped out

772
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:57,119
of them b only I hadn't been outside the day before.

773
00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,679
Little things, but they added up. I kept trying to

774
00:39:00,679 --> 00:39:04,679
come up with explanations. Maybe I was sleep walking, maybe

775
00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:07,239
I was so distracted that I didn't remember doing it myself.

776
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,159
Or maybe a raccoon had found its way in poor

777
00:39:10,199 --> 00:39:12,960
a stray cat. But the doors were locked. Every night,

778
00:39:13,519 --> 00:39:18,079
the windows were closed. I checked or checked. I even

779
00:39:18,119 --> 00:39:20,960
started snapping photos of where I left things, just to

780
00:39:21,039 --> 00:39:24,079
prove to myself I wasn't losing it. Then came the hoodie.

781
00:39:24,559 --> 00:39:27,760
I'd fallen asleep on the couch again, a documentary playing

782
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:31,239
low in the background. I woke up around three. Felt

783
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:33,320
it before I knew it, a kind of cold that

784
00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:36,280
makes your breath feel feel sharp in your throat. I

785
00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:38,440
sat up, confused because the heat was on and all

786
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,079
the windows were shut tight. It wasn't just chilly, it

787
00:39:41,159 --> 00:39:44,119
was wrong, like freezer air. I reach for the remote,

788
00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:47,159
not on the table. I leaned down in something soft

789
00:39:47,159 --> 00:39:50,119
brush against my foot. It was the remote, wrapped in

790
00:39:50,119 --> 00:39:52,840
my old navy hoodie. I hadn't worn that hoodie in

791
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:55,320
over a week. It had been upstairs in a laundry

792
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:57,760
basket the last time I saw it. I dicked it

793
00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:02,119
up and instantly regretted it. The whole lundlreaked like swamp water,

794
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:05,119
that slimey, algie heavy smell you get near the edge

795
00:40:05,119 --> 00:40:08,840
of a stagnant pond, wet rotting vegetation, the kind of

796
00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:11,639
smell that makes your skin crawl. I dropped it and

797
00:40:11,719 --> 00:40:14,599
turned on every light in the house, but again nothing.

798
00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:18,320
Everything else was right where I'd left it. The next morning,

799
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:20,960
I found long, pale smears across the floor near the sink.

800
00:40:21,679 --> 00:40:26,679
Not quite footprints, not ham prints either, just lawn dragging marks,

801
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,400
wet fibrous, almost like something had been pulled across the wood.

802
00:40:31,039 --> 00:40:34,360
I got paper towels and started scrubbing, without even thinking, Like,

803
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,079
if I clean fast enough, it wouldn't be real. I

804
00:40:37,119 --> 00:40:39,679
told myself, maybe an animal garten through the crawl space.

805
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,239
That made more sense than any of the other thoughts

806
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:44,639
crawling around in the back of my brain. So I

807
00:40:44,719 --> 00:40:47,880
drove to the hardware store, bought selant traps heavy duty foam,

808
00:40:48,039 --> 00:40:50,599
spent that afternoon plugging up every possible gap I could find.

809
00:40:51,239 --> 00:40:53,559
That night, I stayed out later than usual, bought dinner

810
00:40:53,599 --> 00:40:56,519
in town, lingered over coffee, wandered aisles at the twenty

811
00:40:56,599 --> 00:40:59,719
four Iur grocery store like I needed something important. I

812
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,039
told myself I wasn't scared. I just didn't want to

813
00:41:02,039 --> 00:41:04,159
fall into a routine. But I left every light on

814
00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:06,119
when I got home, pulled the space heater into the

815
00:41:06,119 --> 00:41:10,159
living room, read until almost two, went to bare matters.

816
00:41:10,159 --> 00:41:12,519
Still in the middle of the room, I exactly three

817
00:41:12,559 --> 00:41:16,239
point thirty three, something slammed against the wall behind me. Odd.

818
00:41:17,199 --> 00:41:20,960
I didn't move, didn't breathe just stared at the ceiling,

819
00:41:21,079 --> 00:41:23,920
waiting for whatever was next. The heat hummed from the

820
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,800
living room, the silence pressed in. Then it happened again,

821
00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:30,679
a single heavy band, like a fist from inside the wall.

822
00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:34,280
I rolled over slowly and pressed my ear to the wall. Nothing.

823
00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:37,840
That was the night. I stopped sleeping properly. I started

824
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:40,199
staying up until morning and crashing for a few hours

825
00:41:40,239 --> 00:41:43,000
after the sun came up. Something about the dark iyres

826
00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:45,760
felt unsafe, like that time of night didn't belong to

827
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:48,280
me any more. I didn't talk to anyone about it,

828
00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:51,960
didn't even message friends. What would I say? Or round

829
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:53,880
five one morning, I was rinsing a mug in the

830
00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:56,639
sink when I heard it, the sound that finally broke me.

831
00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:03,639
The back door unlocked, not creaked, matt jiggled unlocked, a clean,

832
00:42:03,719 --> 00:42:06,280
sharp click, followed by the slow turn of the knob.

833
00:42:06,920 --> 00:42:09,599
I froze, muk still in my hand. My heart dropped

834
00:42:09,639 --> 00:42:12,119
so hard I actually felt dizzy. I hadn't touched that

835
00:42:12,159 --> 00:42:14,400
door in daze. The only other key was in the

836
00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:17,159
glove box of my car. I stepped quietly to the

837
00:42:17,159 --> 00:42:19,519
hall and flipped in the porch. Light peered through the window,

838
00:42:20,119 --> 00:42:24,800
No one, nothing, The yard was still unempty. I stood

839
00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:27,679
there for what felt like an iron. Didn't open the door,

840
00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:31,239
didn't turn off the light. When I finally did check it,

841
00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:35,280
the lock looked fine, no scratches, no signs of tempering.

842
00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:38,039
I shoved my cocky into the keyol from the inside,

843
00:42:38,039 --> 00:42:41,559
and left it there. Later that afternoon, I called the landlord,

844
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:44,519
said I needed to break the lease. Didn't offer a reason,

845
00:42:45,199 --> 00:42:48,039
just said I couldn't stay. He was quiet for a second,

846
00:42:48,159 --> 00:42:50,199
then said, did you leave the back bedroom empty? Like

847
00:42:50,239 --> 00:42:54,519
I told you? I hesitated. I've been using it for storage.

848
00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:58,280
Some one opened boxes, a few coats, nothing big yet,

849
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:02,559
I said, why, He sighed, just make sure it's locked

850
00:43:02,599 --> 00:43:05,880
before you go. Then he hung up. I didn't wait.

851
00:43:06,559 --> 00:43:08,840
I packed everything into my car that day and left Bunion.

852
00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:11,000
My uncle I cost me if I could look after

853
00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:12,800
his cabin while he and his wife went to visit

854
00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:15,360
her family out in Washington for the week. The place

855
00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:16,920
is up near the edge of her nature reserve in

856
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:19,559
northern Wisconsin, where the roads to strew dnse trees and

857
00:43:19,639 --> 00:43:22,599
the nearest neighbors about a quarter mile away. I'd been

858
00:43:22,599 --> 00:43:25,239
there a few times growing up, mostly summer weekends with

859
00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:27,639
my parents, but I hadn't seen it in years, never

860
00:43:27,679 --> 00:43:30,239
stayed there alone. Mike handed me the keys a couple

861
00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:32,559
days before they left and said, just grab the mail

862
00:43:32,599 --> 00:43:36,079
and shovel if its noose. It's peaceful up there. You'll

863
00:43:36,159 --> 00:43:39,639
like it, And honestly I did it. First. The first

864
00:43:39,639 --> 00:43:42,960
two days were solid, quiet. I made simple meals, read

865
00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:45,000
in the porch in the afternoon, took a few short

866
00:43:45,039 --> 00:43:47,679
hacks a round the trails near by. But by day

867
00:43:47,679 --> 00:43:50,880
three I started feeling the difference. That evening, i'd just

868
00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:53,199
gotten out of the shower, wrapped in a towel, still

869
00:43:53,280 --> 00:43:55,320
wiping water from my face when I heard the scraping

870
00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:57,920
noise from the kitchen. It wasn't loud, just enough to

871
00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:00,239
catch my attention, like the sound the chair maker when

872
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:02,960
someone pushes it back from the table. I walked out,

873
00:44:03,039 --> 00:44:05,679
still dripping, half laughing at myself, thinking maybe it was

874
00:44:05,679 --> 00:44:08,639
the window, some pipe knocking against the wall. Everything looked

875
00:44:08,639 --> 00:44:12,480
totally normal, nothing out of place. The chairs were tucked in,

876
00:44:12,559 --> 00:44:14,480
the front door was still locked, and there wasn't even

877
00:44:14,519 --> 00:44:17,440
a draft. I opened the pantry for some reason, like

878
00:44:17,519 --> 00:44:19,239
I expected a rook and to be hiding behind the

879
00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:23,119
flower or something. Nothing. I went back to finish drying off,

880
00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:26,159
but I was more aware now, listening harder, that kind

881
00:44:26,199 --> 00:44:28,400
of alert where your skin feels one size too small.

882
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:33,079
Ten minutes later, same sound that dragon chairs crape. This

883
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:35,239
time I came out of the bedroom a little faster.

884
00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:38,159
One of the dining chairs was pushed back from the table,

885
00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:42,239
not far, just a few inches, angled, like someone had

886
00:44:42,239 --> 00:44:43,960
stood up from it and didn't bother to push it

887
00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:47,320
back in all the way. I froze, not because it

888
00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:49,960
was terrifying yet, but because there's this weird moment when

889
00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:51,920
something's just wrong enough to mess with your head but

890
00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:54,480
not enough to act on. I stared at the chair,

891
00:44:54,599 --> 00:44:56,320
trying to figure out if I'd left it like that.

892
00:44:57,079 --> 00:44:59,880
Maybe when I put my bag down, maybe I bumped it.

893
00:45:00,599 --> 00:45:02,480
I'd pushed it back in slowly and stood there a

894
00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,280
few seconds longer, just kind of testing the air, like

895
00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:07,280
maybe i'd hear breathing or catch movement out of the

896
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:12,079
corner of my eye. Not then, just silence, dense, close,

897
00:45:12,199 --> 00:45:14,519
kind of silence. We start to feel like you're intruding.

898
00:45:15,119 --> 00:45:17,159
That night, I left my bedroom door opened a crack.

899
00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:20,679
I don't usually do that. I'm the type who likes

900
00:45:20,719 --> 00:45:22,920
everything shut and locked, but I wanted to hear if

901
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:26,679
anything moved around at there. Around two, maybe closer to three,

902
00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:30,119
I woke up, not jolted awake, but slowly, like something

903
00:45:30,159 --> 00:45:34,360
had been nudging me toward consciousness. It was the sound mocking,

904
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:38,239
but not from the front door. This was inside, quick, soft,

905
00:45:38,239 --> 00:45:41,079
two knocks at a time, almost polite. I held still

906
00:45:41,119 --> 00:45:46,920
and listened. There it was again, two knocks, a little louder, closer.

907
00:45:47,559 --> 00:45:49,719
I sat up slowly, every muscle tight, like if I

908
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:52,880
moved her on something would notice. It sounded like it

909
00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:55,800
was coming from the holy closet, just outside the bedroom.

910
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:59,119
Two more knocks than nothing. I got up and flipped

911
00:45:59,159 --> 00:46:02,480
the whole light on. The sound stopped. I stared at

912
00:46:02,519 --> 00:46:05,599
the closet door for a while before opening it. Cootz,

913
00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:10,639
an old boot tray, a flashlight, nothing new. I left

914
00:46:10,639 --> 00:46:12,079
the light on and went back to bed, But I

915
00:46:12,119 --> 00:46:15,280
didn't sleep, not really. I just lay there with my

916
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:18,639
eyes open, listening for the knocking to come back. It didn't.

917
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:21,679
But the next morning a hallway light was off again.

918
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:24,519
I know I didn't touch it. That was the first

919
00:46:24,519 --> 00:46:27,119
thing that made me feel watched. I turned it back

920
00:46:27,159 --> 00:46:29,199
on and stood there a while, trying to convince myself

921
00:46:29,199 --> 00:46:31,679
it was a bad switch. Then I saw the boots.

922
00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:34,079
They were sitting by the back door, right where I'd

923
00:46:34,119 --> 00:46:36,920
left them, but they were well, not soaking, but damp

924
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:39,199
enough to leave a faint ring on the mat. Thing

925
00:46:39,320 --> 00:46:41,440
is I hadn't worn them since the day before, and

926
00:46:41,519 --> 00:46:44,519
I hadn't been outside since mid afternoon. No snow was

927
00:46:44,599 --> 00:46:48,800
tracked in, no puddles, just the boots resting exactly where

928
00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:51,559
I left them. Only now they looked used. I didn't

929
00:46:51,559 --> 00:46:53,840
know what to do with that. I called my aroun

930
00:46:53,960 --> 00:46:55,920
yen and asked if any one else had a key

931
00:46:55,960 --> 00:46:58,960
to the cabin. He laughed, said no, just me and him.

932
00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:02,800
Why he getting scooped up there? I made some vague

933
00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:05,480
joke about weird noises and told him the place of personality.

934
00:47:06,079 --> 00:47:09,079
I didn't bring up the boots. That night, I locked

935
00:47:09,079 --> 00:47:11,440
the bedroom door again and waged a chair under the knob.

936
00:47:12,119 --> 00:47:13,800
I even put a couple of pans near the base

937
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:15,760
of the door, figuring i'd at least hear them if

938
00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:18,079
someone tried to come in. I didn't care if I

939
00:47:18,119 --> 00:47:21,599
look paranoid. By the fifth night, I started hearing movement

940
00:47:21,639 --> 00:47:25,800
in the attic. It wasn't footsteps exactly, just low, muffled shifting,

941
00:47:26,039 --> 00:47:28,519
like something was dragging itself from one beam to the next.

942
00:47:29,159 --> 00:47:32,400
The attic isn't finished. It's just a crosspis with exposed

943
00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:35,840
beams and some insulation, no storage, nothing you could even

944
00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:38,880
stand up in. But something was up there the axis

945
00:47:38,880 --> 00:47:41,159
panels in the hallway, just a flat piece of wood

946
00:47:41,159 --> 00:47:43,719
that sits flushed with the ceiling. I'd noticed it on

947
00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:46,599
day one and barely gave it a second thought. But

948
00:47:46,679 --> 00:47:48,960
now I was lying in bed, staring at it through

949
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:51,199
the open door and picturing a face pressing down against

950
00:47:51,199 --> 00:47:53,679
it from the other side. In the morning, I pulled

951
00:47:53,719 --> 00:47:55,239
the steps all up from the shed and pop the

952
00:47:55,239 --> 00:47:58,760
panel up empty. No mice, no ness, no signs of

953
00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:01,559
anything living or ever having lived up there. I poked

954
00:48:01,599 --> 00:48:04,519
around with a broom handle, listened for squeaks of scouring. Nothing.

955
00:48:05,119 --> 00:48:08,320
I somehow felt worse after I checked before, at least

956
00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:11,000
I had none known. Now it was just silence and

957
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:13,159
the creeping sense that I was looking in the wrong place.

958
00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:16,320
That last night, night six, I couldn't handle staying inside.

959
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:18,920
I threw on a jacket, built a small fire in

960
00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:20,800
a pit out back, and sat there until the sun

961
00:48:20,800 --> 00:48:24,159
went down. The colt helped, gave me something else to

962
00:48:24,199 --> 00:48:27,719
focus on. But when I came back inside, everything felt different.

963
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:30,360
The air was heavier, like it had been waiting for me.

964
00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:32,679
The whole way light turned off right as I passed

965
00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:35,559
under it. I stopped, flip the switch. I came back

966
00:48:35,599 --> 00:48:39,079
on thirty seconds later. It clicked off again. That time

967
00:48:39,119 --> 00:48:42,000
I didn't bother fixing it. I went straight to the bedroom,

968
00:48:42,119 --> 00:48:44,480
locked the door, wedged the chair back in place, and

969
00:48:44,519 --> 00:48:46,800
sat down on the edge of the bed. I didn't

970
00:48:46,840 --> 00:48:50,199
even bother changing clothes. Just after midnight, I heard the

971
00:48:50,199 --> 00:48:54,920
front door open. It didn't bind nor creak. It opened smoothly, deliberately,

972
00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:56,440
like some one who knew how to move through that

973
00:48:56,519 --> 00:49:00,960
space without making noise. Then came the footsteps, soft even

974
00:49:01,639 --> 00:49:04,159
crossing the living room, passed the kitchen, heading straight down

975
00:49:04,159 --> 00:49:07,960
the hallway. No pauses, no hesitation, just slow, certain movement,

976
00:49:08,159 --> 00:49:10,239
like they knew where they were going. I sat there

977
00:49:10,239 --> 00:49:13,039
without moving for over an hour. Every now and then

978
00:49:13,079 --> 00:49:15,559
I'd strained to hear breathing or footsteps walking away, but

979
00:49:15,639 --> 00:49:18,480
there was nothing. Just that they had silence, again pressing

980
00:49:18,519 --> 00:49:21,480
into my chest. When I finally opened the door, the

981
00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:23,480
hallway was empty, the front door was closed, and the

982
00:49:23,480 --> 00:49:26,199
boots were gone. The next day, Mike and his wife

983
00:49:26,199 --> 00:49:28,840
pulled up just before noon. I handed him the keys

984
00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:30,760
and told him very calmly that he might want to

985
00:49:30,840 --> 00:49:32,960
check the atted panel. He gave me a look I

986
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:35,920
couldn't quite read, kind of a half nod, like he

987
00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:37,800
already knew there was something weird about the place, but

988
00:49:37,840 --> 00:49:40,679
didn't want to admit it out loud. I haven't been back.

989
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:43,480
My cousin Morr and I were living in this soldublex

990
00:49:43,519 --> 00:49:45,159
on the edge of Claremont, a quiet little town in

991
00:49:45,239 --> 00:49:47,679
upstate New York. She had just gotten out of a

992
00:49:47,679 --> 00:49:49,920
messy divorce, and I needed a cheap place while picking

993
00:49:49,960 --> 00:49:51,920
up over night shifts at a grocery store, so we

994
00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:54,800
split rent and moved in together. The unit had been

995
00:49:54,800 --> 00:49:56,599
empty for more than a year before we got it.

996
00:49:57,199 --> 00:49:59,679
The landlord, a guy named mister Hartley, said the last

997
00:49:59,679 --> 00:50:02,480
tenant got weird and left without a word. I worked

998
00:50:02,559 --> 00:50:04,960
nights stocking shelves, so I'd usually get home around one

999
00:50:05,039 --> 00:50:07,360
or two in the morning. When I wasn't working, I

1000
00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:10,800
kept to a weird schedule, reading, folding laundry, watching TV

1001
00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:14,000
until I crashed. That night, it was maybe three a m.

1002
00:50:14,639 --> 00:50:16,480
I was in the caruach folding a load of laundry

1003
00:50:16,519 --> 00:50:19,159
when I noticed the basement door was open. I always

1004
00:50:19,199 --> 00:50:21,800
kept a hut. It creaked loudly when it moved on

1005
00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:24,599
the air that came up from down. The smelled off musty,

1006
00:50:24,760 --> 00:50:27,519
a little metallic. I figured Mora had gone down and

1007
00:50:27,599 --> 00:50:30,159
just forgot to close it. I walked over to shut it,

1008
00:50:30,199 --> 00:50:32,880
but stopped before touching the knob. The hallway light was on,

1009
00:50:33,039 --> 00:50:36,199
but the stairs looked too dark. The bottom wasn't visible

1010
00:50:36,239 --> 00:50:39,480
at all. It wasn't just shadows. It was like the

1011
00:50:39,519 --> 00:50:42,400
light gave up paffrey down, just as thick, dead black

1012
00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:45,199
space weather should have been steps. I stood there for

1013
00:50:45,239 --> 00:50:47,719
a second, staring at it like an idiot. Then I

1014
00:50:47,760 --> 00:50:49,920
told myself to quit being dramatic and shut the door.

1015
00:50:50,480 --> 00:50:52,800
A few minutes later I heard the soft scribbing noise

1016
00:50:52,840 --> 00:50:56,159
from the kitchen, slow and steady, like something dragging across towel.

1017
00:50:56,159 --> 00:50:58,159
I froze for a second, then got up and chet nothing.

1018
00:50:58,199 --> 00:51:00,239
The back door was locked, chairs tucked in, every think

1019
00:51:00,280 --> 00:51:02,039
was where it should be. I even opened the fridge,

1020
00:51:02,039 --> 00:51:04,119
thinking maybe the compress ameter. We'd know it. Snope, just

1021
00:51:04,159 --> 00:51:06,199
regular fridge. How I shook it off and went upstairs

1022
00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:08,360
or und full thirty I heard it again, the same dragging,

1023
00:51:08,400 --> 00:51:10,159
but this time it moved through the hallway toward the

1024
00:51:10,199 --> 00:51:12,920
foot of the stairs. I sat up in bed, hard

1025
00:51:12,920 --> 00:51:16,519
in my throat, just listening. It stopped. Then I heard

1026
00:51:16,559 --> 00:51:19,199
a single creak, like someone putting weight on the bottom step.

1027
00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:23,920
I didn't move. Nothing followed, no more steps, no sound

1028
00:51:23,920 --> 00:51:26,679
at all. After five minutes, I crept out and leaned

1029
00:51:26,679 --> 00:51:29,800
over the banister. The stairwall was empty, but the basement

1030
00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:33,159
door it was open again, not wide, just enough for

1031
00:51:33,159 --> 00:51:35,920
a sliver of black to show I didn't go down.

1032
00:51:36,519 --> 00:51:38,679
I locked my bedroom door, got back in bed, and

1033
00:51:38,719 --> 00:51:42,119
stayed there until daylight. The next morning, Mora was already

1034
00:51:42,119 --> 00:51:44,519
in the kitchen. First thing she said was did you

1035
00:51:44,599 --> 00:51:48,119
go downstairs last night? I told her no. She said

1036
00:51:48,119 --> 00:51:50,239
the basement door was wide open when she came down

1037
00:51:50,280 --> 00:51:52,760
for coffee. I said, I must have left it ajar.

1038
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:55,840
She gave me a look but didn't push it. Nothing

1039
00:51:55,880 --> 00:51:58,920
happened The next night, or the one after. I was

1040
00:51:58,960 --> 00:52:01,400
starting to let it go. Then I got off work

1041
00:52:01,480 --> 00:52:03,800
late close to two and came home to a quiet house.

1042
00:52:04,519 --> 00:52:07,719
Mara was asleep. I made tea and sat on the couch,

1043
00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:11,239
flipping for Rubuk. That's when I heard the laundry machine beep.

1044
00:52:11,800 --> 00:52:14,719
I hadn't done laundry. I went to the basement door.

1045
00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:17,960
It was shut. I stood there for a second, trying

1046
00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:20,039
to decide how stupid I was feeling that night, then

1047
00:52:20,039 --> 00:52:22,840
opened it slowly and flipped the switch. The light came on,

1048
00:52:23,079 --> 00:52:25,039
but half way down the stairs I realized it wasn't

1049
00:52:25,039 --> 00:52:28,079
reaching the back of the basement again. Same thing as before,

1050
00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:30,760
just this dead zone where the lights stopped working. I

1051
00:52:30,880 --> 00:52:33,599
kept going hand on the railing. The air felt heavy

1052
00:52:33,679 --> 00:52:37,079
the lower I got cooler too. At the bottom I

1053
00:52:37,079 --> 00:52:40,559
saw the washer lit open. Inside was one of my shirts, damp,

1054
00:52:40,599 --> 00:52:43,119
stretched and misshapen, like some one had grabbed both sleeves

1055
00:52:43,159 --> 00:52:45,920
and tried to pull them in opposite directions. I hadn't

1056
00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:48,679
even washed it yet. I closed the lid, backed up

1057
00:52:48,679 --> 00:52:51,480
the stairs, shut the door, and locked it. Didn't sleep

1058
00:52:51,519 --> 00:52:54,480
that night. After that, things started changing in ways that

1059
00:52:54,519 --> 00:52:58,360
were hard to explain. Drawers left half open. My books

1060
00:52:58,360 --> 00:53:02,000
were out of order, some flipped upside down, others stacked

1061
00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,400
differently than I left them. I found a note in

1062
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:06,119
the fridge, in my handwriting that I had see her

1063
00:53:06,159 --> 00:53:08,840
memory of writing it just said leave the door shut.

1064
00:53:09,440 --> 00:53:12,519
I finally try bringing it up tomorrow. Every time I did,

1065
00:53:12,519 --> 00:53:15,960
she brushed it off, said old houses creak were tired.

1066
00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:18,719
Maybe one of us forbout something. Until one night I

1067
00:53:18,719 --> 00:53:20,760
found her sitting half way down the stairs, staring at

1068
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:23,960
the basement door. It was closed, but she looked frozen,

1069
00:53:24,440 --> 00:53:27,039
hale and wired, like she'd been holding her breath. I

1070
00:53:27,079 --> 00:53:29,880
asked what happened. She said she heard some one moving

1071
00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:33,280
below her room, not walking exactly, circling dragging one foot

1072
00:53:33,320 --> 00:53:35,480
like a limp. She thought it was me until she

1073
00:53:35,519 --> 00:53:38,039
realized my car wasn't in the driveway. I told her

1074
00:53:38,079 --> 00:53:40,760
I was calling some one a priest maybe. She said

1075
00:53:40,800 --> 00:53:44,159
not to. Don't make it worse, she said first time,

1076
00:53:44,199 --> 00:53:47,440
she admitted she'd been seeing things too. After that, we

1077
00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:50,599
made an unspoken deal. No one went down there after Dirk.

1078
00:53:51,280 --> 00:53:54,039
That lasted about a week. One night I came home

1079
00:53:54,119 --> 00:53:56,599
late and found Mars standing in the open basement doorway.

1080
00:53:57,159 --> 00:54:00,400
The light was off. She was just standing there, facing

1081
00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:02,920
the dark, like she was waiting for something. I called

1082
00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:07,159
her name, nothing. I grouted her shoulder. She jumped so

1083
00:54:07,239 --> 00:54:09,639
hard I thought she was going to fall over. Her

1084
00:54:09,639 --> 00:54:12,400
whole body was shaking. She said she didn't know how

1085
00:54:12,440 --> 00:54:15,039
long she'd been standing there, that she heard some one

1086
00:54:15,039 --> 00:54:17,960
say her name and just followed it. We went upstairs.

1087
00:54:18,679 --> 00:54:21,239
She cried in my room for almost an hour. The

1088
00:54:21,320 --> 00:54:24,079
next morning, the basement light was on again, door wide open.

1089
00:54:24,679 --> 00:54:26,880
I shut it, locked it, and pushed a chair against

1090
00:54:26,880 --> 00:54:29,280
the knob. That day I stayed home and took out

1091
00:54:29,280 --> 00:54:33,639
the lease. Nothing about deaths, no reports, no word history,

1092
00:54:33,679 --> 00:54:35,400
but the tenant agreement for the last guy had to

1093
00:54:35,440 --> 00:54:37,320
weird gap between his movement and move out dates, so

1094
00:54:37,440 --> 00:54:40,480
for six months off. I called mister Hartley and asked

1095
00:54:40,480 --> 00:54:43,360
about it. He paused, then said the guy wasn't well

1096
00:54:43,400 --> 00:54:47,719
and left without notice, no forwarding address. We packed bags

1097
00:54:47,719 --> 00:54:49,480
that afternoon I went to stay with our aunt a

1098
00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:53,000
few towns over, just for a couple days, we told ourselves.

1099
00:54:53,760 --> 00:54:56,039
Before we left, I went back up stairs to grab

1100
00:54:56,119 --> 00:54:58,800
some things from my closet. That shirt, the stretched one

1101
00:54:58,800 --> 00:55:01,159
from the washer, was folded neatly on my top shelf,

1102
00:55:01,840 --> 00:55:04,960
still damp. Underneath it was a single sheet of paper

1103
00:55:05,039 --> 00:55:07,840
or print out I didn't recognize. Across the top at

1104
00:55:07,880 --> 00:55:12,280
ree en at Sea basement access records. It listed dates, times, names,

1105
00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:15,880
My name showed up three times. The last line just

1106
00:55:15,920 --> 00:55:18,880
said pending. We left that night, took what we could carry,

1107
00:55:18,960 --> 00:55:21,280
and didn't come back for over a month. When we

1108
00:55:21,360 --> 00:55:24,440
finally did, it was to move out. Mister move out.

1109
00:55:25,079 --> 00:55:27,840
Hartley didn't ask why, just nodded and said, you're not

1110
00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:30,960
the first. Now I won't live anywhere with a basement.

1111
00:55:31,719 --> 00:55:34,440
I don't care how nice the place is. Back then,

1112
00:55:34,559 --> 00:55:36,639
I was working nights as an intic coordinator at a

1113
00:55:36,639 --> 00:55:40,079
long term care facility in rural Kentucky. The building had

1114
00:55:40,079 --> 00:55:43,360
a strange history. It used to be a tuberculosis hospital

1115
00:55:43,360 --> 00:55:45,840
back in the day. They converted it into a geriatric

1116
00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:48,039
rahab center in the early eighties. Slept on some new

1117
00:55:48,079 --> 00:55:49,920
pane to put in elevators, but you could still see

1118
00:55:49,960 --> 00:55:53,480
where they bricked off the old quarantine wings, lawn, narrow

1119
00:55:53,480 --> 00:55:56,559
halways that didn't lead anywhere, dead end doors that looked

1120
00:55:56,559 --> 00:55:59,639
like they hadn't been opened in decades. I only lasted

1121
00:55:59,679 --> 00:56:02,840
about six months in that job. It wasn't the work itself.

1122
00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:05,800
I could handle the paperwork, the late ires, even the

1123
00:56:05,840 --> 00:56:09,679
cranky family. That something about that place. It lingered, and

1124
00:56:09,760 --> 00:56:12,599
one night in particular still follows me. We had a

1125
00:56:12,599 --> 00:56:16,400
resident named Ruth eighty seven. Tiny woman not even five

1126
00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:20,320
feet tall, but she carried herself like she owned the building. Sharp, snappy,

1127
00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:23,559
and very clearly not interested in making friends. Most of

1128
00:56:23,599 --> 00:56:26,360
the stuff gave her a wide berth. She didn't last

1129
00:56:26,400 --> 00:56:28,119
out or anything, but she had this way of looking

1130
00:56:28,159 --> 00:56:30,159
at you like she already knew your weaknesses and was

1131
00:56:30,199 --> 00:56:33,840
just politely choosing not to say them out loud. Her husband, Ellie's,

1132
00:56:33,920 --> 00:56:36,159
had died in the facility's hospital when the year before

1133
00:56:36,159 --> 00:56:39,039
I started. They'd been sharing a room for almost twenty

1134
00:56:39,119 --> 00:56:42,000
years before he passed from a stroke. According to some

1135
00:56:42,039 --> 00:56:44,960
of the older nurses, Ruth had barely cried, just sat

1136
00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:48,440
by the window for hours after muttering to herself. She

1137
00:56:48,519 --> 00:56:51,000
never really stopped talking about him, but it wasn't the

1138
00:56:51,079 --> 00:56:54,039
kind of grief people expected. She didn't say she missed

1139
00:56:54,079 --> 00:56:56,639
him or wished he was still around. What she kept

1140
00:56:56,639 --> 00:56:58,960
repeating over and over in different ways was how he

1141
00:56:58,960 --> 00:57:00,840
hadn't rested right, or how he never got to say

1142
00:57:00,840 --> 00:57:03,800
good bye. The staff mostly ignored it, just chalked it

1143
00:57:03,880 --> 00:57:06,440
up to old age and a bitter personality. That was

1144
00:57:06,440 --> 00:57:09,760
the default explanation for anything strange around there. If a

1145
00:57:09,840 --> 00:57:12,400
light flickered or someone felt watched, people just said it's

1146
00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:15,280
an old building and kept moving anyway. It was a

1147
00:57:15,320 --> 00:57:18,239
Thursday night, middle of March, cold and damp, one of

1148
00:57:18,280 --> 00:57:21,000
those nights where your bones feel heavier than usual. It

1149
00:57:21,079 --> 00:57:22,960
was around two point thirty in the morning when the

1150
00:57:23,000 --> 00:57:26,000
five panel by the intake desk lit up false alarm.

1151
00:57:26,679 --> 00:57:30,280
Room two hundred fourteen, that was Ruth's room. I was

1152
00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:32,199
in the office with Jess, one of the nearest c

1153
00:57:32,360 --> 00:57:35,840
naon nights. She was young early twenties, still a little

1154
00:57:35,840 --> 00:57:38,800
too chip of for graveyard shifts, but she was kind

1155
00:57:38,880 --> 00:57:41,920
and she treated the residence with real patience. When Neil

1156
00:57:41,960 --> 00:57:43,880
lam buzzed, we both got up to check it out.

1157
00:57:44,679 --> 00:57:47,239
Not unusual. Those panels went off randomly at least once

1158
00:57:47,280 --> 00:57:49,719
a week, usually a cens or issue of someone microwaving

1159
00:57:49,760 --> 00:57:52,960
something weird. The hallway to the rooms was quiet, no

1160
00:57:53,079 --> 00:57:56,280
t beyond, no nurses around, just off its steps and

1161
00:57:56,320 --> 00:57:59,280
the soft hum of those overhead fluorescence. When we got

1162
00:57:59,280 --> 00:58:01,760
to Root's stores then felt off. Before we even opened it.

1163
00:58:02,320 --> 00:58:06,760
The smell hit first, burnt matches, faint but definitely there,

1164
00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:10,559
and something else laid underneath, foal powdery, like the kind

1165
00:58:10,559 --> 00:58:12,840
of perfume you only smell in antique shops. Already of

1166
00:58:12,880 --> 00:58:16,159
Grandma's house. It wasn't strong, just enough to raise your

1167
00:58:16,159 --> 00:58:19,760
neck hairs. We stepped in slowly. Ruth was sitting up

1168
00:58:19,760 --> 00:58:23,159
in bed. Ramrode straight, not looking at us. Her gaze

1169
00:58:23,199 --> 00:58:25,679
was fixed on the recliner in the corner. I asked

1170
00:58:25,800 --> 00:58:29,559
Ruth everything all right. She didn't move din blink. Jess

1171
00:58:29,599 --> 00:58:32,239
said very clearly, he's been here for a while, just watching.

1172
00:58:32,840 --> 00:58:36,719
He wants to talk. Jeff shifted beside me. She tried

1173
00:58:36,719 --> 00:58:39,920
that soft seaIn a voice, calm, careful, Ruth, do you

1174
00:58:40,000 --> 00:58:42,360
know where you are. It's the middle of the night.

1175
00:58:43,000 --> 00:58:45,679
There's no one here but us. Ruth didn't look away

1176
00:58:45,679 --> 00:58:48,760
from the chair. That's not true, she said, he was

1177
00:58:48,800 --> 00:58:52,159
here before you walked in. That's when the room felt smaller, heavier.

1178
00:58:52,760 --> 00:58:56,440
I glanced at the chair, nothing there, just that Warren

1179
00:58:56,440 --> 00:59:00,000
Bays recliner every resident had. But Ruth's eyes never left.

1180
00:59:00,760 --> 00:59:03,119
I asked if she needed water or help lying back down.

1181
00:59:03,679 --> 00:59:06,320
That's when she finally looked at me. Our face was

1182
00:59:06,360 --> 00:59:08,599
tired in a way I hadn't seen before. Not angry,

1183
00:59:08,719 --> 00:59:11,880
not stubborn, just worn out. He can't rest, she said,

1184
00:59:12,519 --> 00:59:15,920
he needs someone to see him, just one person. Then

1185
00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:19,679
the recliner creaked. It wasn't loud, more like a breath

1186
00:59:19,679 --> 00:59:23,440
of sand, a soft shrift, like someone adjusting their weight

1187
00:59:23,480 --> 00:59:26,960
after sitting too long. Jes took a step back. I

1188
00:59:27,000 --> 00:59:29,880
saw her hand twitch, fingers flexing like she wasn't sure

1189
00:59:29,920 --> 00:59:33,559
whether to gab, mine or bolt. I didn't move, couldn't.

1190
00:59:34,320 --> 00:59:37,119
My chest felt tight, like the air had thickened. Ruth's

1191
00:59:37,199 --> 00:59:41,519
voice was quiet. Now he died angry blown. They didn't

1192
00:59:41,559 --> 00:59:44,679
let me be there, but he's trying again. Then she

1193
00:59:44,760 --> 00:59:47,679
nodded slowly toward the chair, like she was giving someone permission.

1194
00:59:48,159 --> 00:59:50,920
I told Jess to go get the nose supervisor, something

1195
00:59:50,920 --> 00:59:54,320
about having another person. This suddenly felt really necessary. She

1196
00:59:54,400 --> 00:59:57,519
didn't argue, just turned and left quickly. I sat down

1197
00:59:57,559 --> 00:59:59,840
on the edge of Ruth's bed. I had this whole

1198
00:59:59,840 --> 01:00:01,400
thing in my head about how our mind's clean to

1199
01:00:01,480 --> 01:00:04,400
familiar shapes when we're grieving, how sometimes we imagine things

1200
01:00:04,440 --> 01:00:07,159
to feel less alone. But before I could say anything,

1201
01:00:07,360 --> 01:00:10,800
Ruth whispered something I'll never forget. He just wanted to face,

1202
01:00:11,079 --> 01:00:13,519
just one person to look at while he laughed. Then

1203
01:00:13,559 --> 01:00:16,840
she closed her eyes just like that. I put my

1204
01:00:16,880 --> 01:00:19,760
hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. Nothing.

1205
01:00:20,440 --> 01:00:24,800
When the nurse arrived, we checked her pulse. Ruth was gone, peacefully,

1206
01:00:25,440 --> 01:00:29,760
no signs of pain, no struggle, just gone. Her chart

1207
01:00:29,800 --> 01:00:33,119
had flagged her for congestive heart failure, so medically it

1208
01:00:33,159 --> 01:00:37,079
wasn't a surprise. But still Jess refused to re enter

1209
01:00:37,079 --> 01:00:40,519
the room. She just stood outside, pale as chalk, rubbing

1210
01:00:40,599 --> 01:00:43,480
her arms. After they moved Ruth's body I was asked

1211
01:00:43,480 --> 01:00:45,280
to pack her belongings and lock them in the inty

1212
01:00:45,320 --> 01:00:48,000
closet for her family. The room was silent when I

1213
01:00:48,039 --> 01:00:51,920
went back in, still cold, still smelled faintly of smoke

1214
01:00:51,960 --> 01:00:54,440
and perfume. I picked up a few of her sweaters,

1215
01:00:54,480 --> 01:00:56,960
folded them into bin, and then the recliner shifted again.

1216
01:00:57,519 --> 01:01:01,800
That soft creak, the same one. I looked over. The

1217
01:01:01,880 --> 01:01:04,199
chair rocked forward slightly, just once, as if some one

1218
01:01:04,199 --> 01:01:07,320
had stood up. It shouldn't have moved it all. It

1219
01:01:07,400 --> 01:01:10,280
was one of those bulky medical recliners electric, the kind

1220
01:01:10,320 --> 01:01:12,920
you operate with the remote. I walked over and checked

1221
01:01:12,920 --> 01:01:16,199
a plug. It wasn't even plugged in. I stood there

1222
01:01:16,199 --> 01:01:19,239
for a long second. Then I backed out, slowly, shut

1223
01:01:19,239 --> 01:01:21,960
the door and said nothing. Didn't even write it up.

1224
01:01:22,519 --> 01:01:25,760
Three resident in two hundred fourteen, a woman named Angel.

1225
01:01:26,400 --> 01:01:29,239
She didn't even make it one night. By morning she

1226
01:01:29,320 --> 01:01:31,800
was demanding a new room. She told the nurse some

1227
01:01:31,800 --> 01:01:34,239
one had stood by the chair all night. A man

1228
01:01:34,280 --> 01:01:37,480
didn't blink, didn't speak, just watched her. After that they

1229
01:01:37,559 --> 01:01:40,960
turned the room into storage. No one wanted it, and

1230
01:01:41,039 --> 01:01:44,960
the chair still in there. And that is the end.

1231
01:01:45,559 --> 01:01:47,239
Thank you for listening and I will see you in

1232
01:01:47,280 --> 01:01:59,639
the next one.